Vilsacks Buying House near Booneville, Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he and his wife, Christie, are buying a house in Iowa.

Vilsack was in Des Moines on Friday to visit DuPont Pioneer. He says the house is near Booneville in Dallas County, about 18 miles west of Des Moines.

Vilsack, a two-term Iowa governor, laughed when a reporter suggested buying a house in Iowa might be an opportunity to re-establish residency for a future run again at the governor’s office.

He says he’s always been an Iowan and he’s focused now on his job as Agriculture Secretary.

Vilsack took the job in January 2009. He was governor from 1999 through 2007. He announced in January that he accepted President Obama’s offer to stay on for the second term which ends in January 2017.